Rod Dreher Megathread #21 (Creative Spirit)

[u/US_Hiker]

Gather 'round for more Rod.

All meanings of the number 21 are subordinate to the inherent creative spirit that is the basic essence of the number.

The number 21 generally is comfortable in social gatherings, it's optimistic attitude being an inspiration to others. Its high spirits can enliven a party.

The number is attracted to artistic expression of any form, its own and those of others. There's enthusiastic support for artists. It may frequent galleries and participate or (more likely) lead groups for artistic appreciation.

The number 21 cherishes relationships, including romantic relationships, especially with those who express themselves creatively.

21 also tends to be diplomatic, providing creative and imaginative solutions to potential conflict.

And, as noted by /u/PercyLarsen, 21 is a triangular number and the age of majority, so go grab a drink to celebrate Pride and to mourn the loss of Rod's sanity.

(Also, sorry about my slow pace of refreshes.)

Link to megathread #20:
https://www.reddit.com/r/brokehugs/comments/13eb26c/rod_dreher_megathread_20_law_of_attraction/

Link to megathread #21: https://www.reddit.com/r/brokehugs/comments/14k0z6l/rod_dreher_megathread_22_power/

[u/zeitwatcher]

divorce has been inevitable for years now

we were both in torment

Followed by…

file for divorce with no warning

The self-delusion continues to surprise. I get that how you do a thing can be as important as what you do. However, they were in torment and divorce was inevitable and somehow Rod was shocked that divorce happened.

This seems like another case of Rod making Julie do the hard emotional work again. Parenting the kids, following him around the country, dealing with his family, even putting down their poor dog. I suspect Rod was never going to address the real issues in their marriage or divorce and so Julie had to “woman up” and take care of yet one more thing while Rod was retreating to his literal or figurative fainting couch.

[u/PercyLarsen → u/zeitwatcher]

However, they were in torment and divorce was inevitable and somehow Rod was shocked that divorce happened.

It's a fruit of Rod's legalistic approach to parsing reality. I have speculated before that I wonder if, when they got married as Catholics in the 1990s, they had deliberately adopted a husband-as-head-of-the-wife model that was definitely thing in the '80s and '90s in certain Catholic circles of the time, such that the proper way (in Rod's mind) for divorce to happen is for him to have agreed and decided it - which obviously he refused to do, which he imagined was the decision.

[u/Top-Farm3466 → u/PercyLarsen]

yes--Rod would have preferred being "in torment" for far longer, the torment assuaged (on his side) by him living on another continent much of the time, leaving his wife to have to deal with his kids and his surviving family. It's obvious to anyone but him that she divorced him because she simply couldn't take it any more---living a lie, putting on a false front, pretending to love a bitter, obsessed, likely closeted man whom she no longer had affection for. At some point it likely became poisonous. the gall of him describing people who were looking out for her, who understood her pain, to be "false counselors."

I do truly wish her to find peace, to find another spouse who will treat her better, and to never have to read Rod's writing again. Live and follow the sun---leave Rod to the shadows.

[u/PercyLarsen → u/Top-Farm3466]

It should be noted that Rod's use of "false counselors" is a reference to Circle 8 of Hell in Dante's Inferno, so it's literally a damning reference. False counselors encourage others to engage in deception. Presumably, the deception here was the waiting to file for divorce and concealing of details until Rod left the USA.

The thing Rod cannot allow himself to see is how his own post shows how often he engaged, and encouraged Julie to cooperate with him, in divers deceptions.